Warner Bros. Discovery negotiates deal for Harry Potter series

Warner Bros. Discovery is in early talks about to develop a Harry Potter series for the streaming platform HBO Max. Since the series will be directly based on J.K. Rowling‘s best-selling book series, it would return to the world of Hogwarts once more.

The series eschews being an in-universe spinoff like the Fantastic Beasts films and would draw on one of the books for each season. Several sources close to the situation say that Warner Bros. Discovery and Rowling‘s camp remain in a preliminary state and that the studio is looking to house the series under its streaming banner, HBO Max.

Should the series come to fruition, Rowling will be directly involved in the production of the series to a certain extent. However, others than the author are planned as show-runners and primary creators.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Warner Bros. has long pursued the idea of producing a Harry Potter television series. In January 2021, the first rumours surfaced that such a series was being worked on.

At a presentation for investors and the general public on April 12, Warner Bros. Discovery will share news of the developing deal. The event will further preview the integration of HBO Max and Discovery+, which follows the acquisition of Warner Media by Discovery in 2022.

Previously, Warner Bros. produced the films for Rowling's well-known fantasy book series. As a result, the company working on a Harry Potter project would be nothing out of the ordinary. Warner Bros. Discovery expects the series to be a huge success, given that the eight films have grossed over $7.7 billion.

The producers will be able to tell the story more closely to the original books with the series. However, for many fans, not seeing Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley may be a change. The cast of the potential Harry Potter series has yet to be determined.